Executive Summary

Since 2021, Afghanistan has experienced a profound education crisis. UNESCO reports that over 2.2 million girls remain banned from secondary schooling, with widespread disruption to higher, vocational, formal and non-formal learning. Displacement, economic hardship, legal insecurity, digital exclusion, and psychosocial stress create intersectional barriers that deny Afghan adolescents especially girls, refugees, undocumented youth, and minorities their right to education, development, and dignity. 

Voices of Bahar is a youth-led, volunteer initiative built by and for Afghan youth to provide safe, inclusive and non-formal education and mentorship in Dari and English. Blending low-bandwidth online learning and low-tech alternatives to reach adolescents and young adults inside Afghanistan and in neighbouring host countries. Our programme integrates core academics, language learning, civic and human-rights education, digital and vocational skills, and psychosocially-aware peer/near-peer mentorship. The urgency In Afghanistan cannot be overstated with millions excluded from formal education, widespread displacement, and escalating humanitarian and protection risks across Afghanistan and surrounding regions, youth-led initiatives like Voices of Bahar are important and essential more than ever in bridging the gaps and voicing the Afghan youth’s needs internationally.